Kishore Kumar in court today

Self-proclaimed Facebook commentator, Kishore Kumar who is standing trial for allegedly insulting the modesty of National Federation Party MP Lenora Qereqeretabua today repeatedly asked a witness to spell out the name of the page on which the alleged porn video was published.

Kumar’s trial continued in the Suva Magistrates Court today.

The former computer science teacher is charged with six counts of indecently annoying a person and one count of criminal intimidation.

Kishore Kumar in court today

It is alleged that he insulted the modesty of National Federation Party MP Lenora Qereqeretabua by posting live videos on his public Facebook page, namely ‘Kishore Kumar Publication’, claiming that Qereqeretabua is a porn star in Fiji.

Kumar, who is representing himself in this case, cross-examined Dylan Kava, who was the communication officer for NFP.

After several attempts to get Kava to spell the name of the page, the witness repeatedly said he referred to the screenshot given to police as part of the statement.

Kumar stopped his questioning only when Magistrate Seini Puamau intervened, informing him that the witness was now referring to the statement.

Kishore Kumar in court today

Kumar also attempted to get Kava to reveal who he thought was behind the Kishore Kumar Publication page, to which Kava says he did not bother messaging the page to find out.

Kava claims that at the time the incident happened, Facebook was not transparent about those who manage pages until recently.

The witness also highlighted in court that the person behind the Facebook page, Kishore Kumar Publication, has even gone to the extent of referring to Qereqeretabua and her NFP Party as the Porn Party.

He says the accused even used Qereqeretabua’s concern in parliament about tin fish distributed to those affected by a cyclone to ruin her reputation.

Kava says initially the MP did not want anyone to respond to the allegations, but things became worse.

He says Qereqeretabua reached out to him when he was in the United States to help file a case against the accused.

The trial will resume next Monday.

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